An Urgent Care Clinic or Satellite Emergency Dept. at the Ouellette Campus remains on the table as talks continue with the province for a new restructured hospital system in Windsor.
When the original plan was released in July 2015, a new urgent care centre was suppose to be built on the former Grace hospital site.
But speaking on AM800's the Lynn Martin Show, Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj says the province wants to look at the possibility of reusing the Ouellette Campus on an interim basis for the Satellite Emergency Dept.
He says a recent call on November 15th with the ministry to go over the project was positive, along with an announcement this week in Grimsby for plans for a new hospital there means the province is still willing to invest in new hospitals.
"They are continuing to recognize there needs to be hospital infrastructure investment, hospital system infrastructure investment and that's a new project on the list of projects and that is, in my opinion, a positive thing," says Musyj.
Musyj adds the Satellite Emergency Dept. will not be staffed 24 hours at the start but it all depends on the data once it is open.
"It all depends on the statistics and the demand but it is going to be a Satellite Emergency Department staffed by emergency room physicians, emergency room nurses, the only difference is that it doesn't have attached to it in-patient beds."
He says the province also needs to look at how much an investment is needed in the Ouellette Campus to make it a Satellite Emergency Department saying 'there is a limit to how much you can reuse.'
The Satellite Emergency Dept. could possibility include day surgeries as well.